Open AccessThe notion of desire in Lévinas’ philosophy
Author(s) -
Mark Lošonc
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
theoria
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2406-081X
pISSN - 0351-2274
DOI - 10.2298/theo2001043l
Subject(s) - hegelianism , dialectic , phenomenology (philosophy) , metaphysics , epistemology , philosophy , alterity , character (mathematics) , mathematics , geometry
This paper deals with the notion of desire in L?vinas? philosophy, with special attention to the question of its metaphysical character. By relying upon the early works of L?vinas as well, the author deconstructs the notion of desire by pointing at its contradictory relationship to the concept of needs. Attention is devoted to certain phenomenological interpretations (Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Michel Henry) and to the dialectical understanding of desire (Hegel) that enables us to seize the specificity of L?vinas? viewpoint. At the end of the paper the author discusses the possibility of an ethics of responsive desire within the phenomenology of alterity.